Not So Different After All
by stingrae90
Summary: What went through the mind of the Just King when he had a moment to reflect on just how much Narnia had changed from the land he remembered?


A/N: Hello, all. I realize this is not what you were probably hoping for, an update on Fortunate Relapse. But I decided that since I haven't written in the Rurouni Kenshin genre for a while, I needed to work out the kinks in my writing with a short one-shot. I love the Chronicles of Narnia series and Edmund is one of my favorite characters. I am working on FR, but it's taking me time to get back into the appropriate mindset.

But anyway, this isn't meant to be taken seriously. As I said, I wanted to get back into the flow of writing, and this seemed like a good way to do it. It's more of an experiment to gage where I need to focus as I get back into the flow of FR. I wrote this in under two hours, and I haven't edited it as I normally would have. It has still been checked for grammar and spelling errors, though. And I made sure not to make any glaring errors with Edmund's character. If I pilfered the name Naia from anyone's story, please contact me and I'll give you credit where credit is due, as I honestly don't know where I got the name.

This takes place at the end of Prince Caspian, but before Edmund, Peter, Susan, and Lucy return to our world. I'm incorporating elements from the movie of the same name, but I pulled the majority of my information from the book. I pilfered Naia from the movie based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But I couldn't remember if she was ever named, so I gave her the name Naia.

**A/N 2:** Just an FYI, the name Sir Giles comes from elecktrum's wonderful stories (You should all go read them if you haven't; they are extremely well-written and characterized). I thought it was out of the movie, at first. Thanks to the1hobbit for setting me straight on that!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia, books or movies.

Not so Different After All

Edmund Pevensie, otherwise known as King Edmund the Just of Narnia, stood beneath the waving branches of the trees in the woods around Aslan's How, the place he had known as the Stone Table. Well, the Stone Table was still there, it was just at the center of a rather large, hollowed out hill, now. He couldn't quite believe how much had changed since he had last been in Narnia. The How, small, quiet streams turning into raging rivers, peninsulas turning into islands, once magnificent castles turned into so much ruin…

And of course, the rather startling effect of seeing features on the New Narnians that he recognized from his old tutors, or from officers in Narnia's army from his reign, or just from the Narnians that had happily served them in Cair Paravel. It was a rather disconcerting feeling, seeing familiar mannerisms and features on new, unfamiliar faces.

But why should he just be reacting now? He knew, intellectually, that nearly a thousand years had passed by the Narnian standard of time, even if only a year had passed for him and his siblings.

"_It is one thing, my king, to know a fact intellectually, with your head, and quite another to accept it with your heart."_

The voice that floated through his memory was slightly hoarse, and a bit shaky, but the Dwarf who had undertaken the task of ensuring both the High King and his brother could reason and argue with the best of any debators had been anything but. The old Dwarf had often-times expressed his exasperation with a poorly thought out response with a sharp whack upside the head, or in the arm. Peter and Edmund had learned how to debate effectively from him, and they had learned quickly. Edmund put one of the lessons he had learned under the Dwarf to good use now.

"_Organize your thoughts, Your Majesties. If you do not know where you begin, you cannot know where you are going."_

'No one we knew, none of our subjects, are alive anymore,' Edmund reflected, leaning back against the trunk of a large tree. He couldn't be bothered, right now, with identifying the exact type. 'Not Oreius, not Tumnus, or Sir Giles…'

"No one we knew…" He stated softly, aloud. His voice was soft and quiet, nearly lost in the noises of the nighttime forest around him. He let himself think on that fact for a while, before shaking his head and continuing with his mental sorting of the situation.

'The Telmarines drove the Narnians into exile in their own country. The woods became a place to be feared, for the very beings that once made it such a joyous place to be, the Dryads, and other denizens of the forest.'

Edmund experienced a brief stab of anger at that fact. The Trees had only been awakened from their slumber by Aslan's call, and even now, after the battle against Miraz had been won, many still feared the forest and the Dryads.

"Again, 'to know a fact intellectually,'" He murmured. Those who still feared the forest's denizens had seen the Trees fight for Aslan and for Caspian, and even aid those who had fallen wounded in the battle; but they were still afraid, unable to shake off the ghost stories of their youth so easily.

Edmund sighed and thumped his head back against the tree trunk, gazing up at the stars. Many of the constellations were familiar to him, as he had been taught to find his way by them very soon after he and his brother and sisters had been crowned.

A small smile worked its way across Edmund's face.

"Well, the stars are still the same, no matter what else has changed."

"The stars are not constant, my king, but they change so slowly that they seem so to those of us bound to the earth."

Edmund jumped, completely startled out of his revere. He fumbled for his sword, wondering how he could have let his guard down enough to be snuck up on like that. A musical laugh sounded, and Edmund forced himself to think logically as he turned to address the person that had startled him so badly.

'Whoever it is isn't an enemy. Not if they chose to speak with me instead of giving fair warning and then attacking. Or just outright attacking me.' And he would have been a very tempting target, Edmund knew, sprawled at the base of a tree, completely ignoring his surroundings. 'I'm going to catch it from Peter, later, for letting my guard down. Even if we are pretty sure we got all of Miraz's supporters, we can't be sure yet.'

As Edmund completed the turn, he blinked in astonishment. It was as if one of his memories had come alive and chosen to walk before him. A beautiful Dryad stood just at the outside of his sword range, smiling softly at him. Her flowing form was very familiar and her face…

"I am glad to see you again, King Edmund." Edmund mentally smacked himself and ordered himself to stop staring like an idiot, but he wasn't sure how well he was doing at following his own command. The Dryad before him he had seen before. Several times, actually, the most notable being not far from this very spot, before the Battle of Beruna…

"Naia?" His voice squeaked and Edmund flushed, but the Dryad simply smiled widely at him.

"I am pleased to be remembered, Your Majesty."

"But how…I mean, it's not…" Mentally smacking himself, Edmund brought his errant mouth under control. "I am glad to see you again, Naia. But you startled me. I did not expect to see any of our old subjects here in this time."

Naia inclined her head gracefully. "It is understandable, my king." She canted her head to look at him out of the corner of her eye. "We Dryads can live as long as our tree still stands and draws life from the soil and the sun and the rain."

'Dryads…and their trees…Of course, you idiot!' Edmund exclaimed mentally. He smiled at Naia and gestured her closer.

"Of course, I had forgotten that. I am glad to see you well."

"Thank you, King Edmund." A smile crossed her face again. "Though I admit to having been startled in turn, at your appearance." Edmund smirked a bit as he spread his arms, inviting her to share his wry amusement.

"Not nearly so surprised as my brother and sisters and I were to find ourselves not only back in our own world, after we attempted to follow the White Stag, but also the same ages as we had been when we first arrived in Narnia. Or at least, the same physical ages." Naia cocked her head.

"You will pardon my curiosity, I hope, King Edmund…"

Edmund shook his head. "I think I know what you are going to say, Naia. Or at least, what you are going to ask." He turned a serious look on her. "Why did we not attempt to come back?"

Naia sighed, and shook her head. "Not quite, but very close, my king. Long ago, after you and your royal siblings disappeared and did not return, your subjects all accepted that it had been Aslan's will to return you to your own world. I was simply wondering if you knew why it had to be that way. I have never been able to understand that."

Edmund was quiet for a long time, pondering her question. "I doubt everyone took our disappearance as calmly as you make it sound, Naia, but I appreciate the sentiment. I think we were sent back, in part, so we could be here for this." Edmund waved at the surrounding area. "If we hadn't been sent back, and if Susan hadn't left her horn on the saddle of her horse when we decided to explore on foot, we never would have been able to come to Caspian's aid."

There was another pause, as Edmund organized his thoughts once again. "I think, perhaps, it was to help my siblings and myself to grow in our faith in Aslan. We had no way of knowing what events were transpiring in our absence. Our only way into Narnia had been sealed, and nothing made it open again, no matter how many times we tried. We could only trust in the Lion's plan."

Silence reigned on the small clearing for several minutes, as each pondered the larger reason for events of the past. A small laugh came from Naia. Edmund glanced over to her, curious.

"I just thought, Your Majesty, how odd it must have been, to go from a full grown man to a child once again."

Edmund's laugh was rueful, as he kicked a foot against the ground. "It has been…an experience, Naia. I will admit that. For a long time, I had a hard time reconciling my movements to my height, since I kept forgetting I no longer had the body of an adult." One hand rubbed the back of his head ruefully. "I don't think I've ever tripped over my own feet so much as I did those first few months." A wicked little smile spread on his face then. "But I adjusted to it better than Peter did!"

Naia laughed with him. The High King had always been the taller of the two brothers, and so it made sense he'd had greater changes to work with than his brother had.

The two Old Narnians sat and spoke long into the night, so long that the moon had nearly set and all extra activity in the camp around Aslan's How had ceased as the soldiers slept and those on watch attended to their duties quietly.

Finally, when the sun started to peak over the horizon, Edmund and Naia stood to return to the main camp. As they walked towards camp together, Edmund paused and glanced back at the rising sun.

'Maybe the majority of the faces have changed, and the land itself has changed drastically, but it is still Narnia. And I am still a king of Narnia.' He turned a satisfied look on the camp below him, just starting to stir with activity and grinned when his youngest sister dragged a half-asleep Peter out of his tent to show him something. No doubt he would be dragged into it as well, as soon as Lucy found him, but Edmund found himself smiling at the prospect. The scene below him was really not so different from many that had occurred when he had resided in Cair Paravel.

It seemed, that even as much as things changed, they stayed the same, as well.


End file.
